Guilty Crown/Tear Jerker

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • In episode nine we get a real doozy. We have the death of Yahiro's little brother, Jun. We're given a brief flashback to Jun's past, seeing him happily play with Yahiro as a child. And how he makes a clear point of how Lost Christmas is about to happen. You're sitting there, just waiting for the tear jerker to start as Jun explain how the Apocalypse Virus has given him the ability to see voids, which is a textbook case of Blessed with Suck in that it lets him see the darker sides of otherwise kind and friendly people, including his beloved older brother. Then Lost Christmas Happens. and we see the memories of Yahiro swearing to protect Jun. As the virus is slowly causing him to go insane and crush his brother to death with an endlave. And in the end, Shu is forced to kill Jun in order to protect Yahiro and end the former's suffering. Cue Heroic BSOD for Shu.
  • In episode twelve Gai pulls a Heroic Sacrifice, telling Shu to get to Mana through him. Shue does so, tears streaming down his face. Gai dies holding Mana. Together in Death has never been so beautiful...
    • The final scene with Shu and Inori both crying is so darn sad, but it's worse for Inori because Gai was the one who gave her a name and a world...
  • When you're watching episode 12 again, when Shu calls Gai/Triton his best friend, and stops him from falling on a bridge. You know they don't have much time left together as friends. Made worse by the few seconds where it shows Gai letting go of Shu's hand at the end.
  • When Shu and Hare are severely injured, despite bleeding profusely, Hare heals Shu first. She details a fairy tale she read as a little girl, about a kind king that gave everything away to the people, how the people wound up hating him for this, and how she didn't hate him at all. She says that the kind king was her first love, and how she thinks that Shu was this kind king. And a GHQ helicopter flies over and destroys her Void, making it impossible for Hare to heal herself. Shu makes it out thanks to Hare, but Hare suddenly becomes afflicted with the Apocalypse Virus. Shu holds her as the crystal eats her alive and she vanishes into dust, right when in Shu's grip. Cue Despair Event Horizon for Shu and a subsequent Roaring Rampage of Revenge complete with Dull Eyes of Unhappiness. And you know what's really ironic? None of this probably would have happened had Souta and the other F-ranked Void users not been so brash.
  • I'm not going to detail why because it would be too much, but everything in episode 16. A quarter through it, this troper was already crying.
  • Seeing everyone turn on Shu is absolutely heart-wrenching. Especially when you realized how favorably and idealistically everything began. Then Keido... Or Segai... Or whoever's really in charge starts pulling the strings from behind the scenes and starts screwing with everyone, causing formerly genuine Nice Guy Shu to go through his Start of Darkness and even causing his classmates, friends, and comrades who originally appreciated him as a pillar of strength in such unstable times to turn on him. And it's all topped off with a Recently revived and clearly evil Gai chopping the poor kids arm off in order to steal the Void Genome. Seeing his best friends turn on him was just so awful. DAMN YOU, WHOEVER'S IN CHARGE! DAMN YOU!!!
    • Made worse by the fact that many of his friends seem to hate doing this to him. I'm looking at you, Souta.
  • In episode 18, watching Shu look at photos of him and his 'friends' after everything that has happened is extremely heartwrenching.
    • Inori's speech to Shu, where she promises to always be on his side.
  • Episode twenty one:

Inori: Who's Shu?
Gai: The name of the man you loved.

    • That's love with a D, as in PAST TENSE!
  • When Rowan sacrifices himself to protect Daryl by pushing him into an elevator while saying "If you get another chance, be more kind to people! Deep down, I know you were a nice guy Daryl!" The expression on Daryl's face made it sadder.
  • Watching Gai die a second time is immensely more difficult and heartwrenching.
  • The entire last quarter of episode 22.
    • When Inori returns to herself only to revealed to have become overtaken by the virus and unable to see or feel Shu was absolutely heartbreaking. It's even followed by Shu pulling the biggest Heroic Sacrifice in the show as he absorbs the Apocalypse Virus. All of it. EVERY. SINGLE. TRACE OF IT. However, Inori's subsequent Heroic Sacrifice saves him.